Activision boss wants to turn developers into economists and “take the fun out of game design”
Outspoken Activision CEO Bobby Kotick has again stunned onlookers with a string of extraordinary statements regarding game design, Activision’s business plans, and the future of the industry.
Speaking at the Deutsche Bank Securities Technology Conference in San Francisco, Kotick rounded off his 45 minute speech by discussing how game design can progress by instilling a “culture of thrift.”
“The goal that I had in bringing a lot of the packaged goods folks into Activision about 10 years ago was to take all the fun out of making video games,” he said.
The conference speech, first reported by Gamespot, was not quite the miserly outlook on game design that a multitude of blogs are implying, but instead Kotick’s philosophy that sustainable game design works best when development studios have an appreciation for the finances that drive them.
"You have studio heads who five years ago didn't know the difference between a balance sheet and a bed sheet who are now arguing allocations in our CFO's office pretty regularly," Kotick said.
Advertisement
The Activision Blizzard CEO added that he has tried to instill "skepticism, pessimism, and fear" into company culture as a response to the global economic downturn.
"We are very good at keeping people focused on the deep depression,” he added.
Earlier on in the keynote, Kotick spoke of how he expects Guitar Hero to bypass consoles altogether, as well as “many” of the company’s other products. MCV has the full report on this here.
Maybe Mr Kotick could show some appreciation for the countless hours of unpaid overtime his thrify development teams work in order to satisfy his prepackaged goods?
Not a comfortable message for creatives to hear, but one that might sustain their numbers in the decades ahead. Some would like the luxury of criticising these sentiments, while living under the protection of their jobs and their projects that the attitude implies.
Lets get real about our work, so we have some in two years and in ten.
In order to make fun games it helps massively if you can have fun making them. Games that are fun to make are usually better and it's only the best games that sell well. Taking the fun out of making games is a stupid idea. Kotick's comment is really out of touch with the development process. It's a modern day 'Let them eat cake!' I bet it was alot of fun to work on Modern Combat. That rap tune at the end was clearly made by a studio that knew how to have a laugh while doing brilliant work.
i doubt that Valve (would anyone argue they are the most respected devs amongst consumers?) have this kind of philosophy, and they make better games than Activision (Infinity Ward make the good CODs).
i really think this guy is bad news for the industry. i'm not denying that he's making money hand over fist, but GH is fairly rubbish really, i wouldn't say it has any depth, COD is great of course, but only really the IW ones. can't remember what their other big franchise is (WOW?) but i don't care either way.
all in all, if i had the chance to punch this guy in the face, i would. seriously. he's a bastard.
